I have had Sleep Apnea for years. I have tried both cpap and bipap and neither one has worked. I am still trying to find out how to beat this.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Cpap machines and humidifiers

One of the major problems with early models of cpap machines was the dry air that flowed through the hose to the mask. This would dry up the nasal passage, make you sneeze and was a possible cause of infection. If you had a full face mask like I did then it not only dried out the nose but also made your throat dry and irritated when you woke up. The way that the cpap companies solved this problem was to add a humidifier.

The last cpap that I had used what was called a passover humidifier. A container of water was connected to the cpap machine’s hose as the air crossed over the container moisture would be picked up and passed through the main hose. I was instructed to use distilled water in the container because tap water would wear out the machine faster. Since the first cpap that I had used didn’t have the humidifier, I could definitely tell a big difference in the air passing through the hose.

There is also something called heated humidity. Heat produces the moisture as opposed to a container of water that passes moisture with a passover humidifier. This type of humidifier is now considered superior to the passover type.

Something that you may want to remember is that some insurance companies will not pay for heated humidifiers. Like any other procedure or medical device coverage varies from one company to the next. Your doctor’s office could probably tell you which insurance companies cover it and which don’t.